


The Loneliest Road

by MissMonie



Category: Transformers: Prime
Genre: Car Accidents, Date Night, Date Night Gone Wrong, Gen, I Made A Reference To Frozen, M/M, ghost story, sue me
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-24
Updated: 2017-07-24
Packaged: 2018-12-06 06:22:31
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,564
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11594736
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MissMonie/pseuds/MissMonie
Summary: After working so hard to keep Megatron looking his best while in stasis, Knock Out decides he and Breakdown could use a little night out on a deserted stretch of Nevada's highway. Little did he realize, it wasn't quite as deserted as he thought.





	The Loneliest Road

“Do you want to go for a drive?” Knock Out stood on pedetip as he watched Breakdown wipe grease off one of their tools.

“You know Starscream won't like that.” The smirk on his lip plates said he didn't give two slags about what 'ole Screamer said.

Knock Out hummed and rocked back, examining his claws.

“Why, Breakdown, you and I have been busting our afts to ensure our dear Lord Megatron is on the mend. We deserve a little fun.” He turned to hook those claws on the lip of the bruiser’s chassis. “Besides, I found the perfect place for us.” Ending with a low rumble of his engine, he made sure to tip his head back in just the right way to make his optics sparkle. 

One of Breakdown's servos wrapped around his waist, and he shook his helm.

“Well, if there's one thing you know, it's perfection.”

“And you best remember that.” Knock Out slipped out of his grip and sauntered out of the med bay.

 

The green glow of the groundbridge stretched out in front of the two mechs as they stepped out onto the desolate, Nevada road. A sign that read Highway 50 swung haphazardly in a dry breeze. Two mesas stretched across the horizon as the road narrowed between them. The scene could only be better set with a full moon, but the quarter slice served its purpose to highlight the few cacti and shrubs on either side of the cracked asphalt.

“I thought you hated driving in the deserts?” Breakdown stopped beside Knock Out. “S'nice though. Clear sky, plenty of flat rocks to stargaze. Or to frag on.” He grinned.

“Ah, and Starscream dares to claim I have the one track processor.” The Aston Martin purred as he pointed down the long stretch of barren highway. “I heard several of the fleshies talking about this place at the last race. It seemed the most appropriate for us to,” he flicked his optics to Breakdown's with a wicked smirk, “let our engines unwind.” 

Breakdown shifted his weight, arching his brow plates. Knock Out leaned on pedetip again, brushing his servos over his lover's chassis. The silent plea lingered on the air before the bruiser sighed and nodded. He took a step back to transform while the medic clapped and joined him. The racer's powerful engine revved loudly, echoing through the open valley.

“One race. One. After that, we do somethin' I wanna do.” Breakdown's voice sounded through Knock Out's speakers as they lined up on the edge of the highway. “Or at least somethin' we're both good at.” 

The rumble in Breakdown's vocaliser made Knock Out rock in his struts. Oh, he loved to hear him talk. He wondered for a moment why he didn't do it more often.

“Something we're both good at? Why there are a few things, my dear Breakdown.” Knock Out gunned his engine, taking off like a shot across the deserted road. “We are both good at butchering Autobots, driving Starscream into the Pit, finishing each other's-”

“Sandwiches.” Breakdown's grin was audible.

Knock Out groaned, “Why for the sake of Primus did I agree to watch that with you?”

“Because you know the songs by heart.” He sidled up beside Knock Out for only a moment before the racer roared away again. “And we're both good at knocking off work.”

“Well, yes, we are good at that.” He glanced back in his mirror. “You know, I recall a human movie I saw a few decacyles back. It involved an abandoned stretch of road like this. Some crazed fleshies slashed the tires on some other fleshie's vehicles and devoured them.”

“Like Terracons?” The apprehension in his vocaliser was almost cute.

“Not quite.” Knock Out shifted gears to pull beside Breakdown. He always won their races, and while it did make him happy, having an uninterrupted chat was even better. “Cannibals.”

The roof mounted missile launcher shuddered with distaste as they slowed to something close to a cruise. Well, Knock Out's version of a cruise which tended to be just a little under Breakdown's max speed.

“Humans tore parts out of other humans?” He dropped back a bit in puzzlement.

“Yes, to eat them.” Knock Out's pleasant chirp chimed through the speakers.

The launcher quivered again as the SUV hung back a few dozen feet. He lapsed into silence for several miles.

“Knock Out?”

“Mmm?”

“This place is givin' me the creeps. Can we go back to the _Nemesis_? I'll give ya a buff?”

The offer was very tempting, but it had been several cycles since they had been out of the med bay. He really needed a few more miles, but Breakdown did have a point. The highway had an eeriness to it. It reminded him of the roads on Cybertron after most of the mass exodus, though not riddled with remains, or the ghostly hands of what may or may not have been Empties reaching for his tires. They raced past a worn set of sticks by the side of the road.

“I suppose we should start to head ba-oh hello there.” Knock Out adjusted his side mirrors to see a pair of headlights burst to life behind Breakdown. “I suppose this road isn't deserted anymore. Fleshies on your aft, Breaky.”

“What? Nothing's on my scanner.” 

The car, black on black with windows tinted dark enough to make Knock Out jealous, roared closer to Breakdown's bumper. It honked and pulled alongside the bruiser.

“I think the little native wants to race!” Knock Out laughed into their comm. “Let's give it a run for its shanix!”

The pedal grazed the floorboard as he roared ahead. Breakdown and the stranger's headlights appeared as tiny dots in his rear view while he laughed.

“Hey, Knock, I don't think this is a fleshie.” 

The nervousness in his partner’s vocaliser made his engine sputter just a bit. Re-adjusting the mirrors, he examined the car. If he knew his automobiles, and he did, it was an old model mustang. Earth era seventies or early eighties. No Autobot had that model for their alt mode, and they would have attacked by now. He slowed a little.

“Breakdown, bump them. If they're humans, it should sca-” His vocaliser clicked off as he saw the mustang slam into Breakdown's side. “What in Primus's name does that human think its doing?” Both Decepticons hit their brakes as Breakdown took aim with his missile. The car stopped a few feet behind them and revved its engine in threat. “Slag that stupid human!” Knock Out snapped as Breakdown put some distance between them to fire.

The mustang squealed its tires as it started right behind him until the missile wedged into its grill and exploded. Bits of asphalt skittered across the road, making Knock Out pull forward to avoid any scuffing his finish. When the dust cleared, a smoldering hole remained where the car had been.

“Takes care of that fragger.” His partner chimed happily into the comm. “Can we go back now? I've only got three of those left now, and this place is still creepy.”

Knock Out hummed in agreement and started to pull down the highway at an easy roll as he pulled up the bridge frequency. The crunch of metal filled the night air, and he saw Breakdown's headlights flickering before they burned out as he toppled over the side of the road. His groan filled his speaker's as the mustang charged after the medic. Anger burned in his lines chased by worry.

“You slag eating fragger.” He growled and whipped around, tires screeching on the asphalt. “How dare you touch him!” The gears shifted with a loud ka-chunk and his engine roared in the night like a cyber-lynx.

The distance closed foot by foot until they were almost on top of each other. Knock Out kept his pedal down until he realized the human wasn't going to swerve. He cursed and transformed, sailing over the roof of the car. As he turned, pedes sending sparks into the air, he saw the car roaring down the road still. He readied to transform again when he saw another set of headlights. A second passed and the sounds of crunching metal exploded around him as the two cars collided in a twisted mass. His optics focused and he straightened.

“What in the Pit...?”

The two cars faded a moment later, not even an oil stain left on the asphalt; just those two sticks crossed over each other. Knock Out stared, waiting for something, anything.

“Knock?” Breakdown clicked. “They popped one of my tires.”

He turned away, jogging back towards his partner. His blue chassis was covered in dents and scrapes that would take hours to fix.

“In your pede or shoulder?” He felt over the edges. 

“I think we should get outta here, Knock.”

Knock Out glanced back where the two vehicles had collided. He felt uneasy.

“I think you're right.” He slipped his servo into Breakdown's to gently squeeze. “Knock Out to control, we need a bridge.”

The groundbirdge swirled to life a few feet away as he helped Breakdown to his pedes. The bruiser gently pushed him aside as they walked through it, straightening to his full height. Knock Out spared a glance back, and he thought he saw the shadow of a black mustang at the end of the highway.

**Author's Note:**

> Second time writing fanfiction, and using these one shots as a way to get a feel for the characters before I tackle something more serious. I found myself reading ghost car stories and wondered if Knock Out ever encountered one during his little after work drives.
> 
> I'm still not used to the terms, and I'm bad at car descriptions apparently. I should work on that.


End file.
